Review Summary

“Such a sweet little man” remarks a guest at a shabby-genteel Dublin hotel, referring to a waiter named Albert Nobbs. One of Albert’s co-workers describes him, less kindly, as a “freak,” and there is certainly something odd about this elfin, diffident, ginger-haired fellow, who attends to his duties with fastidious care. He is not, indeed, a fellow at all, but a woman who has lived most of her life disguised as a man. And not just any woman: this self-effacing, cautious character, whose name is also the title of Rodrigo Garcia’s lively and touching new film, is played by the dazzling and infinitely resourceful Glenn Close.